[kelvin]

Nice one on the 6A anyway fried, I think getting a 6A in the forests is maybe the thing I'm proudest of most this year.

 

[duncan]

STG: week off
MTG: 7b RP this winter. E5 OS, something vertical, classic and not dangerous, next April.
LTG: Long hard (for me) rock routes in the Alps, Dolomites, Picos and Scotland. 7c RP.

M -
T - Westway - bouldering to V3/4, then Anerobic capacity. Good session.
W -
T - Fingerboard - repeaters - R shoulder a little tweaky.
F -
S - Shoulder stability stuff - still a bit tweaky.
S - Weather forecast was marginal so we chose Brean. It was packed like The Westway on Tuesday evening, with many of the same faces. A good scene and nice to see some quite strong people trying things. My inner coach couldn't help notice several people badly need to do some jumping and falling practice!

Warmed-up, including onsighting Bikini Atoll, didn't get on the route I had in mind (Root of Inequity) as the first bolt was in use most of the day. Tried Clashing Socks, came close to doing it first RP after a brief play. Unfortunately foot popped off on the crux, or I caught a sharp hold awkwardly, not sure which happened first. Either way, my finger felt like it had a car door shut on it, off I came, and that was it. A day of low expectations but happy with how I was climbing.


Finger still feels a bit numb today and shoulder a bit battered, so time for a break. Felt solid on Clashing Socks, despite having been on rock once only in the last two months, and very keen to get back on this. Either this is much the easiest of the 7bs I've tried or the training is having some effect. Pleased I didn't get on Root as it's a good candidate for a flash attempt when I'm a bit more fluent on rock again.

I've survived 10 sessions of repeaters in the last 5 weeks, the first time I've done any regular fingerboarding. Strength gains have been small but power-endurance is markedly better. This is not quite what I was aiming for but perhaps what you might expect from an exercise involving 12 'moves' (6x2 arms) in 60-80 seconds. Isn't this Anaerobic Capacity? I'll give the board a rest for a bit then try something closer to 'max hangs' and see what effect that has.

[Muenchener]

I've survived 10 sessions of repeaters in the last 5 weeks, the first time I've done any regular fingerboarding. Strength gains have been small but power-endurance is markedly better. This is not quite what I was aiming for but perhaps what you might expect from an exercise involving 12 'moves' (6x2 arms) in 60-80 seconds. Isn't this Anaerobic Capacity? I'll give the board a rest for a bit then try something closer to 'max hangs' and see what effect that has.

I'm systematically beastmaking for the first time too, but have opted for a - I think - more strength-oriented pattern for now: 5 seconds on, ten seconds off, five reps. Barrows Protocol. Seems to be working: the routine I started with and could only just do at bodyweight in September I can now do at +5 kgs.

Will probably try repeaters in the spring PE phase.

[Sasquatch]

STG - Mandala

M-Walk on treadmill
T - Campus - Best campus session ever. 
W-Arc
Th-Rest
F-Campus -good session, but not quite as good as Tuesday.
S-Easy Hike
S-Rest

Crazy week. Short tight sessions, and 70+ hours of work.  So keen for Bishop!!!!!!! I leave wednesday, will get on it on thursday or friday depending on travel

[T_B]

Good luck Sasquatch! Sounds as though you're in great shape for it. Look after your skin 

[Sasquatch]

Thanks!  I'll post up a couple of times if I get a chance.

[tomtom]

Sorry I'm late!

STG enjoy and progress

M:
Tu:

W: Popped in at Bleurghbage West on the way from Hull > Manchester for a quick and dirty session on west side story. First time since March that temps felt good and that conditions would be fine. Warming up on the slabby probs to the left of the nose dispelled this myth... no friction - glassy... However after failing on all of my usual warm ups I moved over to WSS and it felt great! I had about an hour on it, of structured 3 attempts (with a small rest between) followed by a 5 min break and repeat.. slowly worked my way into the problem and by the end got to catching the final side pull and organising my feet for the deadpoint to the porthole... Then stopped as my LH index finger was close to going through...
The moves on WSS are interesting.. I have to pull really quite hard with the LH to keep on all the time - but the pops up to the sidepulls are a strange mix of throw, tense and relax... anyway onwards...

Th: Met up at Curbar with Sheffields premier mobile barista and boulderization hustler: Lagerstarfish. Pleasant warm ups at Trackside and then up to the pit of Gorilla problems... I've not done a thing in the Gorilla pit, Lagers most.. so I was there to shamelessly gain as much beta from him as possible. Spent most of the time working Early Doors (the ending of GW just seems a bit crap) and made progress, finally doing the last part and topping out \o/ but had run out of beans/enthusiasm to link the traverse part to the up part.. Lagers was on good form - displaying some fine scrittle hustling moves by saving his flash of Early Doors for when there was an audience Moved up the hill to Seans arete - Lagers had not tried it and its been 3 years or so since I did it. I have (had) fond memories of Seans - nice balancy guppy moves up the arete etc.. but was no-where close on thurs. My final bouldering act of the day was shaving a large amount of skin off my shin - after which we retired.. Hello to the two folks we met up there - sorry for my duff Seans beta!




F: Felt completely done in! battered!
Sa: Similar - at least it was raining...

Su: Blackstones. Headed there to meet up with R-Man and others from the Lancs Bouldering collective for a sort of guide launch/meet. Connies were not ideal - a bit damp where not in the sun and not a great deal of wind to dry things out. In other words, great conditions for lying about and reading a paper in November (if such a thing exists), but sub-optimal for bouldering... Anyway, a team set to work on the trig boulder - which yielded a truly fine set of balancy, slab, arete and pebble pulling moves. Rarely have a seen such a small expanse of rock give so many great moves... Managed to dry off (and do) a 7A dyno problem up there. Then headed to try 'Fridge Hugger' - an interesting looking 7B+ by the 'Twins' boulders. Its hard - very hard I pulled very hard and made partial progress but some way off! My core still hurts today! One for the future maybe...


Heuco Blocs at Blackstone Edge

A good week - with a low number of trips out (2.5) but I'm feeling battered - so obviously having a good work out on both of those days.

[nai]

I've survived 10 sessions of repeaters in the last 5 weeks, the first time I've done any regular fingerboarding. Strength gains have been small but power-endurance is markedly better. This is not quite what I was aiming for but perhaps what you might expect from an exercise involving 12 'moves' (6x2 arms) in 60-80 seconds. Isn't this Anaerobic Capacity? I'll give the board a rest for a bit then try something closer to 'max hangs' and see what effect that has.

I'm systematically beastmaking for the first time too, but have opted for a - I think - more strength-oriented pattern for now: 5 seconds on, ten seconds off, five reps. Barrows Protocol. Seems to be working: the routine I started with and could only just do at bodyweight in September I can now do at +5 kgs.

Will probably try repeaters in the spring PE phase.

I find 6/7 reps too many but it's worth remembering that both the Beastmakers and Andersons (Rock Climbers Training Manual) suggest this many (Functional Hypertrophy?). Although the I think Andersons do suggest that this is with a focus on training for routes and that it isn't a perfect solution but a balance between strength and specifity?

I recently did a short top-up block of sets of 4 & 3 reps, 7s on, 3s off.  The 4-rep set is performed at a base weight and the 3-rep set with as much extra as possible, usually 2-3kg.  These were quite effective, made some good gains.

Couple of years ago I used to do a session of max hangs followed by one of 4-rep hangs the following day.  This was effective too, never had a higher 1RM, even when just doing max hangs, so I think there's something in performing reps, just how many is the question.

I think for my next block I'll start doing the 4&3 rep routine for 4/5 sessions then add in sessions including max hangs later.

[abarro81]

I can take no credit for the 5-on-10-off protocol, I stole it from Ben Davison

[pyrosis]

Can I rejoin the club? It's been a long time!

STG: Reset the home wall, get a few last licks in before hardware removal surgery from R ankle 13 November
MTG: Recover from surgery without reinjury, maintain as much strength as possible, 7A again by January 1
LTG: Midnight Lightning, Mandala, Spectre

M: @work 12 hrs, after work stripping holds on the home wall ~50% stripped
T: @work 12 hrs, after work stripping holds *DONE*
W: Route setting
Th: Route setting
F: Route setting *done*, ~1K holds, ~30 taped problems so far from 4A-7C+ish
Sa: Bouldering at the catacombs, basically a slew of moderates including 6A x3, 6B x1
Su: Laundry day, worked a bunch on the home gym: ripping out old carpet, installing black rubber mats for yoga/handstands

[LB]

FIrst Post! In fact I haven't posted much at all. I think I've probably met a few people pottering around the peak though. This may not be the most exciting contribution.

M: Raven Tor. Nearly did four move link in the middle of Powerband but kept dropping off the crux. However, maybe a realistic goal for next year. Good motivation. Went into the wall on the way home mainly to see some people and partially dislocated my knee. It clicked back in to place and I was able to drive home but painful.

T: Knee hurts and I can't really bend it. Walking hard. Stairs very difficult.

W: Mobility a lot better. See GP. He says he thinks the cruciate ligament is probably only strained but it is difficult to tell.
 
T: My knee feels a lot better. Go to the wall to see how foot on campusing feels.

F: Knee really swollen. Worse than tuesday.

S:

S: Go to Exeter for a job interview.

STG: Let knee recover
MTG: 7B this winter
LTG: 8a

Sorry for the miserable post. Hopefully I can come up with something more exciting soon (fingers crossed).  The Lancs bouldering sounds ace tomtom. I'll be psyched to get out with the new guidebook once I've fixed up.

[nik at work]

What happened to "spam everybody else"? I was looking forward to that

SPAM ALERT...

You do weighted pull ups in the park? That is about the most boss thing I've ever heard in my life!

I reckon you're aiming a bit low with the incremental grade increase to 7a+ next year. Looking at your training performance you certainly have the strength (weighted pull-ups, hanging 45's, repeaters on 35's) and anyway I'm a big fan of whole number grade jump targets (7a, 7b, 7c, 8a, 8b...). Basically 7b is where it's at.

Also, I've scanned back across the last few weeks of your posts and... You don't seem to get out on rock that much (usually once a week?) and the rest of the week is typically training at home/the local park (LIKE A BOSS) or at the wall. So you're hitting the training pretty hard relative to climbing time. So in your situation when I did get to the wall I'd get on routes if possible? Working a hard 'un (7b/+?) and going for the onsight on newly set 6b/c stuff. My reasoning being that if this training/climbing ratio is an ongoing situation then I'd say you need to keep your "climbing" skill up-to-date. You're doing plenty of lets-get-strong stuff so bouldering at the wall isn't adding much (especially as your target is a route so is likely to have much easier moves than you, as someone seemingly fairly strong, will be able to bust out on the bouldering wall) also doing pull-ups at a wall always strikes me as a really expensive way to do pull ups. So doing circuits would seem more focussed, but it isn't climbing up so whilst the fitness type stuff transfers I still reckon you'd get more from climbing well... up. Don't know if that's possible at your wall??
I'm a bit of an old climbing-is-about-technique-as-much-as-power hippy though...

So you read back through my last few weeks of power club and hey-ho it's been all BM sessions and very little actual climbing, hmmmm hoist by my own petard...

[Muenchener]

Thanks.

I do have two pretty good local lead walls, but haven't done much on them this year because I lacked motivation. I don't enjoy doing routes on plastic much, and tbh I also tend to avoid them because I don't like being pumped and don't cope with it very well. My outdoor successes tend to be on bouldery/cruxy things. So yes, that is definitely something I could and should work on more and have been avoiding.

[webbo]

 Mon. Looking at a house.
Tue. Meeting with mortgage broker.
Wed. Board did a project after quite a lot of goes and repeated a couple of things.
Thu. Turbo 1 hr before work. Evening board hard mirror session 41 problems.
Fri. Nothing.
Sat. Board repeated Wednesdays problem. Did a few other repeats including a problem I couldn't repeat last time I tried it. Turbo 1 hour.
Sun. Bike 74.11 miles 4 hrs 5 mins 18.10 mph
Feet felt a bit better at times and I climbed two days on the trot for the first time in months.

[kelvin]

because I lacked motivation. I don't enjoy doing routes on plastic much, and tbh I also tend to avoid them because I don't like being pumped and don't cope with it very well

Could be me talking there mate.

If it helps, I've actually got stuck in recently and even tho I don't enjoy it, I am starting to see/feel the results. Apart from the crux (that took four attempts to get right) I fair walked up a 6c on TR this week and having only ever climbed one juggy 6b indoors... that's pretty quantifiable in my book. It's now a STG for the month.

It'll never be rock or the boulder room but it's at least as fun as weighted pull-ups in the park.

[tomtom]

Welcome LB! sounds like a nasty injury to recover from...

[Muenchener]

it's at least as fun as weighted pull-ups in the park.

I find that hard to imagine

[rginns]

OK, my first post on UKB training diary - I used to post years and years ago on Simon's UKC thread back in the day, and it was actually useful, so I've decided to join the club to see if it motivates me to get more training done and actually acheive a few things. I've compiled a list of problems I want to do this winter, but I need to get focussed...

65 Kg
STG = Consolidate 7A, get a few established Lancs classic 7As ticked by the end of winter.
MTG = 7B - By this time next year it will be good to have done at least one quarry based 7B.
LTG = 7C ha ha ha ha ha ha although I've given myself until I'm 40 (7 yrs).

M = Working in Evry, stayed in Bourron Malotte at a lovely farmhouse.
T = Fontainebleau Roche aux Sabots - taking advantage of working in the area - wet at first so only had a couple of hours in the afternoon, but had a good work out after wandering around videoing mushrooms (wtf / don't ask / see recent wildlife thread..)... Managed a few easy problems (sub 6b) and then worked some harder stuff (but failed). Surprised myself though, I think I'm quite a bit better than last time I was here..
W = knackered
T = Fingerboard session, 1.5 hours, leg raises. Felt weak.
F = Usual Longworth Lane run, 4.5k, ab-ripper X seshun to beast the CORE
S = Rockover Manchester with Dave and R-Man - good session really although only had a couple of hours. Managed two pink (V5-6?) problems and lots of easier ones, felt quite fit for a change
S = Started work on the 10 degree board opposite the steep one. Got the diagonals bolted to the rafters (big milestone)

I'm making good progress with the new board, it's nearly ready for the ply to go on - I've just got to finish the shelving properly behind it and it's ready to go. The CRUSHER holds will be arriving soon and be a good addition to the board(s), I'm thinking of starting again and resetting everything once the new board is complete. Have decided to relocate the other fingerboard that Andyd gave me once frame is done. Hopefully this will add to the training psyche.
Progress might be a bit slow due to a complaint from the neighbour about the banging and drilling at 2am the other morning (whoops, guess the late night coffee-induced DIY will have to stop...)

[nik at work]

Hello pasty man 

Meunchener as a fellow hater of the pump I sympathise with your predicament. However I would say that if you can embrace the humiliating stupid failure on easy moves then reasonable gains can quite quickly be made on stamina. For me the gains were twofold.
1 I gained stamina, durrr obvs...
2 In some ways more importantly I gained a better understanding of how pumped I was feeling. That is to say that instead of just going from strong to boxed I can now to an extent appreciate how pumped I am and assess how I am recovering at a rest. This awareness ( which I don't think I've explained very well) made a massive difference to me.
Having said all that I'm still a massive punter at stamina type stuff and on any long (20m+ is long for me) overhanging stamina plod I will overgrip my way up jugs until falling on yet another easy move pumped out of my gourd at a frustrating and depressing height.

Anyway if you have the opportunity to work this I'd take it, but not at the expense of weighted pull ups in the park...

[Muenchener]

2 In some ways more importantly I gained a better understanding of how pumped I was feeling. That is to say that instead of just going from strong to boxed I can now to an extent appreciate how pumped I am and assess how I am recovering at a rest. This awareness ( which I don't think I've explained very well) made a massive difference to me.

Clear enough explanation. My Other 7a Project has a hardish overhanging section, then a shake-out at a bomber jug, then the crux. I need to get my head around the idea that arriving at the jug a bit pumped isn't the end of the world.